It’s weird that I still do what I do… I’m lucky I don’t have to be dragged, carried or wheeled on stage!
Showbiz legend Lulu talks to LESLEY JONES about her forthcoming tour and reveals her life recipe after more than 60 years in the business
SHE may have just turned 75, but the low-key celebration Lulu had at home with her close family is not a sign she’s slowing down.
The Scottish singer says she was merely “saving herself for one hell of a party”, as she’s lined up a string of spectacular live performances next year to mark both her milestone birthday and an incredible 60 years since she first found fame with her smash hit Shout.
“It’s going to be really special,” she says. “The way I celebrate best is when I’m on stage.”
The Champagne for Lulu tour – a name inspired by a line from her cameo appearance on BBC comedy series Absolutely Fabulous – starts in her hometown of Glasgow.
Lulu calls this “the greatest gift Jennifer Saunders could ever have given me”, adding: “No matter where I go in the world – walking down the street in Sydney or Los Angeles or Spain, people shout ‘champagne for Lulu’ at me.”
Talking about her upcoming tour, she says: “We are throwing everything we’ve got at it, pulling out all the stops. I want everyone to party with me. I’m going to have special guests – people I have met along the way – to come and celebrate.”
And considering the famous faces Lulu has shared a stage with and recorded with over the years, that could mean audiences are in for some very special performances.
“Obviously I’ve travelled the world and I’ve worked with so many legends in my lifetime,” she says.
So who could we expect? Sir Elton John, Sir Paul McCartney, Sting, Neil Diamond, not to mention Westlife and Atomic Kitten – there’s an impressive list for Lulu to call on when she fancies a duet.
Fans will also be banking on her reuniting with her great friends Take That to perform their number one hit Relight My Fire, especially since she was guest of honour at their Hyde Park British Summer Time show in July.
As she appeared on stage in head to toe white and dark sunglasses, Gary Barlow introduced her as ‘The Queen’, and she didn’t disappoint.
She says that she’d love to perform with Bruno Mars and that working with Calvin Harris or Lewis Capaldi would be “the dream”, but Lulu remains coy when it comes to confirming exactly which musical legends she’ll be partying with.
“That would be giving it all away. The shows won’t be 100 per cent predictable. Everything is still being finalised. What is it they say?” she laughs, hamming up an American accent. “No comment.”
What is confirmed is that she’ll be belting out hits such as The Man With The Golden Gun, The Boat That I Row and no doubt a storming version of Shout that will bring the house down.
“As they leave the theatre, I want my audience to feel full of joy,” says the star. “I want them to have been taken out of their heads, to have had a laugh and thrown themselves about a bit and lose all sense of their physical pain, age, worries and problems.
“For me, that would be the ultimate birthday present.”
With the life force and energy of a far younger woman, Lulu says it’s meditation that helps to keep her grounded.
“I meditate as I brush my teeth. It’s become part of my life,” she reveals. “It absolutely puts you in touch with your inner wisdom. I love that. And the energy, the amazing energy that we all have inside.
“At this age, of course, you must know how to pull yourself together.
“Breathing properly, getting dressed up, having your hair cut, not putting food in your mouth every five minutes… you know, everything is a discipline. I read this somewhere, that in being disciplined there is freedom.”
It’s clear that having recently been working on her second no-holds-barred autobiography, Lulu, who shares son Jordan, 46, with her hairdresser ex-husband John Frieda, has been reflecting on her amazing life. Now, she says she’s ready to share some of her best stories with audiences.
“I will be able to speak about things I don’t normally get a chance to talk about,” she says.
We could guess that her marriage to Bee Gee Maurice Gibb at 19, a rumoured affair with David Bowie and winning the Eurovision Song Contest may feature, but this year’s short stint as ‘A Piece of Cake’ on The Masked Singer probably won’t.
Asked how it was for her, she is short and to the point.
“Brief,” she laughs. “I tried very hard not to sound like me and I think I managed it probably a little too well.”
Despite her long career in showbiz, even icons can’t go on forever, so one wonders if this tour could be her last.
“It’s definitely weird that I still do what I do, but I’m not going to apologise for it. I love what I do and I’m lucky I don’t have to be dragged, carried or wheeled on stage.
“At this point people say, ‘Is this gonna be your last tour?’
“And I think, ‘Wow, that’s a ques
tion.’ But yes, actually. Possibly.”
There’s no retirement plan, however. Far from it. True to form, Lulu reveals the real reason she might hang up her mic is because she’s wants to concentrate on another of her talents instead.
“Now I want to focus on my acting,” she says.
“I always think, ‘What am I going to do next? What’s coming up? What am I going to plan?’ I mean, I got into the film business when I was 16 when I starred in To Sir With Love, so it feels like it’s come full circle.” We’ll soon see Lulu in Sky movie Arthur’s Whisky, with Diane Keaton and Patricia Hodge, as well as listening to her hilarious turn in Radio 4 sitcom Bob Servant Says Cheerio, a two-parter recorded with her old friend, Succession actor Brian Cox.
In the meantime, Lulu is looking forward to starting rehearsals in the new year and taking her show on the road in April.
“I’ve got a lot of things on my mind at the moment,” she says.
“I’ve been famous for 60 years. But do I think about how life could have been? Not much.
“It’s weird to say but really I feel this is a new beginning for me.”
We are throwing everything we’ve got at it, pulling out all the stops. I want everyone to party with me. Lulu on her new tour
The Champagne For Lulu tour kicks off on April 9, 2024. Visit myticket.co.uk/artists/lulu for tickets